Binders, such as three-ring binders, have long been used for holding loose-leaf notebook paper. Typically, the loose-leaf notebook paper has three or more holes punched therethrough along one of its edges. Those holes are aligned with the rings of the ring binder, such that individual sheets may be added or removed from the binder.
A common problem with loose-leaf binder sheets is that the sheet is easily torn between the binder ring mounting holes and the adjacent edge of the sheet. When one or more of the holes tear through, use of the binder becomes much more difficult. The sheets are harder to turn and tend to fall out of alignment with the other sheets in the binder.
Traditionally, premade rings or donut-shaped reinforcements were glued about the "torn-out" hole to reinforce the loose-leaf sheets. With the advent of self-adhesive labels, the reinforcement rings were peeled from a backing and placed over the torn hole in the paper. To make the repair, the binder was opened, and the torn sheet of paper removed so that the reinforcement could be glued or otherwise adhered to the sheet of notebook paper about the hole. This method of repair was and is inconvenient and time-consuming, because the ring binder must be opened and the sheet of torn paper removed. With large binders, it can be difficult to open and close the rings, particularly when the binder is substantially filled with loose-leaf sheets.
It would be advantageous to have a reinforcement pad that could be used to repair torn sheets of paper without opening the binder or removing the subject sheet of paper.